[IPSM] Six Nations Studying Proposals To End Caledonia Standoff

[shelly]

Six Nations Studying Proposals To End Caledonia Standoff
Aboriginal Affairs minister remains optimistic
MARISSA NELSON and DANIEL NOLAN, Hamilton Spectator
Thursday, April 13, 2006

      BRANTFORD -- The province and federal governments have tabled a proposal they hope will solve the six-week standoff in Caledonia, but Six Nations protesters haven't budged saying it doesn't address their immediate concerns. 

      Both elected and hereditary officials were holed up in the Best Western Hotel in Brantford for most of Thursday discussing the proposal, but the Six Nations officials didn't come to a consensus. They expect to discuss it with their community through the weekend. 

      In the meantime, native protesters continue to occupy the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision in Caledonia, just off Argyle Street South. 

      Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay believed the consultation and discussion was a good sign and said there is a lot of good to end what protesters call a "land reclamation." He reiterated confidence the standoff can resolve peacefully and a court injunction ordering protesters off the site will not have to be enforced. 

      "What I think is important is that the parties are engaged in discussion and they are moving along," the minister told The Spectator. "One has to be patient in these types of discussions. It's important for the aboriginal community to do it's consulting. We're moving along." 

      He wouldn't say what will happen if the proposal is rejected. 

      "This is a real hypothetical," the minister said. "We've got some good progress here. I have to believe there's enough good will here to come to a successful conclusion. I have confidence in the process." 

      Haldimand County Mayor Marie Trainer, who was at an earlier meeting at the hotel when the proposal was presented to Six Nations members, was also optimistic the proposal could end the occupation. She was, however, taken aback by an offer to provide government owned land in South Cayuga and Townsend to Six Nations to help end the impasse. 

      "That will be interesting to see what will come out of that," Trainer said. "That's a whole new ball of wax. There will be a loss of tax dollars.. That was not presented to us while we were there." 

      The proposal, which didn't include a compensation package for the developers of Douglas Creek Estates, makes several suggestions, but all of them are contingent on the native protesters leaving the subdivision in Caledonia they've occupied since Feb. 28. 

      The proposal includes: 

      * Federal money to fund a process for Six Nations to look at its own governance structure. 

      * A commitment from the Haldimand County to keep the land between urban Caledonia and Six Nations designated as agriculture in its official plan.. 

      * To start talks for Ontario to turn over land it holds near the reserve to Six Nations, including the former Burtch Correctional Facility in Brant County, land in South Cayuga and a parcel of land at Edwardsburg (Ramsay said that was an error and the land is in Townsend). 

      * A commitment from the federal government to accelerate land claims. 

      * Federal money for Six Nations to research land and resource issues. 

      The suggestions, which also include promises to discuss other concerns, will only move forward if the protest at Douglas Creek Estates ends. 

      "We're dealing with a very concerning and volatile situation so we need to be flexible in how we solve this situation," said Indian Affairs representative Bob Howsam. That flexibility means talking with hereditary leaders, not just elected ones which is customary. 

      He said the federal government does not see buying out the developers as an solution to the crisis in Caledonia. Neither did Ramsay who stressed the province did not put such a suggestion on the table. 

      "We feel we've made a constructive offer on a whole bunch of issues," said Howsam. "Our fervent hope is the blockade comes to an end." 

      Ramsay said compensation was not included because "that's not an issue that directly involves solving the present situation, the protest itself." He said, however, the government is concerned about the "financial frailty" of developers John and Don Hennings and continues to have discussions with them. 

      Ramsay said the proposal presented to Six Nations was put together through a "group effort" of all parties involved. He said it included aspects of "what everyone is looking for, what's important for each party. . . you start to develop a proposal that can meet needs that are deliverable." 

      He said the lands in South Cayuga and Townsend were not being offered to Six Nations if they backed off from demands for Douglas Creek Estates. 

      "It's not all that simple," the minister said. "We're talking about a multitude of parties here. There's not just two sides to this. That's why this is so complex." 

      Dave General, the elected Six Nations chief, said it may be the best thing if the band council stepped aside and let the hereditary leaders handle it, but that it wasn't that easy. "That's one of the discussion items," he admitted, before leaving saying everyone needed a "breather." 

      Ramsay said involving hereditary chiefs permanently in land claims could be discussed. "I don't want to preclude anything or agree to anything," the minister said. "A lot of this is about governance in the community and there have been discussions there." 

      The hereditary chiefs said they would consult the people before making any conclusions, but are frustrated because Ottawa hasn't addressed a letter -- a proposal of sorts -- they handed over late last month. The protesters says the housing site was never surrendered by Six Nations, but Canada and Ontario say it was surrendered and sold off in 1841 to help build the Plank Road (Highway 6). 

      "The blockade will stay there," said Mohawk chief Allen MacNaughton, part of the confederacy of hereditary chiefs. 

      He said the proposal was a small indication the government was listening, but he was disappointed it didn't deal with any of the short-term issues in Caledonia. 

      "They're dealing with long-term things, but not what's in front of them," he said. "I had hoped for more . . . I had hoped for a moratorium on that piece of land." 

      After getting the proposal, elected and hereditary officials met for more than an hour behind closed doors to discuss it, but didn't reach a consensus before leaving for the day. 

      Helen Miller, an elected band councillor, was angry about the government's proposal saying it was the brain-child of General -- a brain child he didn't pass by council before handing it over. 

      "We wanted to talk about the injunction and making sure the OPP doesn't go in there," Miller said. "I'm not satisfied about anything -- it's promoting our elected chief's own agenda." 

      Don Henning, part owner of the developers for the site, said they remain optimistic, but said they didn't know more by the end of Thursday then they did coming in that morning. 

      "Our position is there are court orders and the OPP have a legal obligation to enforce it," said Henning's lawyer Michael Bruder. 

      Ramsay didn't believe the Caledonia situation is setting a precedent that court injunctions don't mean anything when dealing with natives and land occupations. 

      "I'd certainly never agree with a statement like that," he said. "We have negotiations all the time with various groups and organizations. This is a situation we'd like to see resolved through negotiation." 

Developers upset at slow pace of land talks
       
      Ron Albertson, the Hamilton Spectator 
      Six Nations Chief David General believes the negotiations should focus on the land claims.
     
     
By Barb McKay, Marissa Nelson and Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator
BRANTFORD (Apr 15, 2006) 
A lawyer for the Douglas Creek Estates developers says his clients are working to get the federal and provincial governments to return to talks this weekend in hopes of ending a six-week-long native land dispute.

Michael Bruder said Don and John Henning, owners of Henco Industries, which has been developing a parcel of land in Caledonia now occupied by Six Nations protesters, are growing increasingly frustrated over the negotiations between the governments and the Six Nations band council that seem to be going nowhere. The two sides met at the Best Western in Brantford Thursday to try to reach an agreement, but at the end of the day discussions where put on hold for the weekend.

"We're waiting, but nothing is happening," Bruder said.

The governments have offered a couple of solutions for the developers, including compensation for short-term losses, but Bruder says it isn't enough. He said developers have suffered a loss in the value of the subdivision, but that is nearly impossible to calculate. As well, contractors and builders need to be compensated. The governments want figures, but Henco's office is on the development site, currently barricaded by native protesters, and all its corporate documents are locked inside.

Bruder said the Henning brothers would sell the property to the government for the right price to compensate Six Nations natives, but their first option would be to go back in and finish building and selling houses. But as the native occupation drags on they may be left with no other choice.

"As time goes on, it becomes attractive to just say (to the government), 'Buy the land and you deal with it for the next four months,'" Bruder said. "That's not good for the community, but at that point I don't know what else we can do."

But Six Nations protesters have already shunned the idea. They refuse to be bought by the federal and provincial governments. Janie Jamieson, spokesperson for the natives occupying the site, said the Six Nations people want the land, not the money.

"This land is not for sale," she said. "It's not their land to sell."

At the same time, Jamieson is hopeful the negotiations will bring about a peaceful solution.

The proposal makes several suggestions, but all are contingent on the native protesters leaving the subdivision that they've occupied since Feb. 28.

The proposal includes:

* Federal money to fund a process for Six Nations to look at its own governance structure.

* A commitment from the County of Haldimand to keep the land between urban Caledonia and Six Nations designated as agriculture in its official plan.

* To start talks for Ontario to turn over land it holds near the reserve to Six Nations, including the former Burtch Correctional Facility, the so-called Cayuga lands and a parcel of land at Edwardsburg.

* A commitment from Ottawa to accelerate land claims.

* Federal money for Six Nations to research land and resource issues.

The proposal is enticing, but protesters feel it is still lacking.

Jamieson said native people are frustrated that the discussions only involve talking heads, including elected Six Nations Chief David General.

"He is not representative of our community," Jamieson said.

However, General said the negotiations need to focus on the land claims and the main issue still remains the safety of the people behind the lines.

"The people are committed to wanting the land back and are willing to stay as long as they have to," he said.

Indian Affairs representative Bob Howsam stressed the need for caution and sensitivity while moving forward. "We're dealing with a ... volatile situation so we need to be flexible in how we solve this situation."

That flexibility means talking with hereditary leaders, not just elected ones.

He said the federal government does not see buying out the developers as a solution.

"We feel we've made a constructive offer on a whole bunch of issues," he said. "Our fervent hope is the blockade comes to an end."

General said it may be best if the council stepped aside and let the hereditary leaders handle it, but that it wasn't that easy.

"That's one of the discussion items," he admitted.

The hereditary chiefs said they would consult the people before drawing any conclusions, but are frustrated because Ottawa hasn't addressed a letter -- a proposal of sorts -- they handed over late last month.

"The blockade will stay there," said Allen MacNaughton, the Mohawk chief and part of the confederacy of hereditary chiefs.

He said Thursday's proposal was a small indication the government was listening, but he was disappointed it didn't deal with any of the short-term issues in Caledonia.

"They're dealing with long-term things, but not what's in front of them," he said.

"... I had hoped for a moratorium on that piece of land (the Douglas Creek Estates)."

Meanwhile, residents of Caledonia are growing increasingly impatient with the occupation. While some are empathetic to the cause, they wonder why a solution hasn't been found.

"It's difficult," said Derek Dias, a resident of Caledonia. "What was the original transaction of land? Shouldn't there be a paper trail? If the land is theirs they should have it."

His wife, Kim, believes Canada already purchased the land from the natives and shouldn't have to do it a second time.

"I don't really have a position either way," she said. "I just want to make sure the right thing is done in the end. The people who have really lost in this are the people who have bought property there."
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